Gallery Reserve
For Viewing Only
About Jeffry Cantu
Represented Artist
Jeffry Cantu is a United States Navy Veteran. He was stationed in Japan and traveled throughout Asia and the Pacific from 2000-2004. Upon his return to the States, he became a member of the USN Reserve in Little Rock, Arkansas. Cantu’s art is deeply influenced by his Mexican culture and his travels in Asia. He met his husband in 2012, having the effect of heightening his ambitions to become a professional artist. He studied at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith Wingate Art & Design Center and volunteered as a scene artist for the UAFS Theater. Jeffry's artwork bloomed into large-scale, three-dimensional, and mixed-media abstract works focused on malleable lines that create form, and the use of light to enhance the illusion of enclosed space. Since then, Cantu has participated in exhibitions in Fort Smith and several Northwest Arkansas locations. He has garnered awards from Fort Smith Regional Art Museum Invitational exhibitions, and in 2020 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art engaged him to bring art to communities in collaboration with the Fayetteville Housing Authority. Cantu has done several live installations throughout Northwest Arkansas in Springdale, Bentonville, and at the Center Square and The Ramble Arts District in Fayetteville. Cantu’s artworks are collectible and accessible to a range of buyers. His art is in the collections of many local individuals and regional businesses, including Bank Street House in Bentonville.
I use repetition, movement, and form, to create unity with select media, organic shapes, and abstraction. My woven relief works are made with corn husk at its basis with other media to transform it into a new, different object. From a technical standpoint, the reliefs are created by hand-manipulating cornhusk to stretch its expressive capabilities combined with other non-traditional sculptural materials such as bamboo, twine, rope, and sometimes clay. These works (as are my paintings) represent my contemporary, cultural search for self, using materials that are mainstays of my ancestry.
About the art
Jeffry Cantu is a United States Navy Veteran. He was stationed in Japan and traveled throughout Asia and the Pacific from 2000-2004. Upon his return to the States, he became a member of the USN Reserve in Little Rock, Arkansas. Cantu’s art is deeply influenced by his Mexican culture and his travels in Asia. He met his husband in 2012, having the effect of heightening his ambitions to become a professional artist. He studied at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith Wingate Art & Design Center and volunteered as a scene artist for the UAFS Theater. Jeffry's artwork bloomed into large-scale, three-dimensional, and mixed-media abstract works focused on malleable lines that create form, and the use of light to enhance the illusion of enclosed space. Since then, Cantu has participated in exhibitions in Fort Smith and several Northwest Arkansas locations. He has garnered awards from Fort Smith Regional Art Museum Invitational exhibitions, and in 2020 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art engaged him to bring art to communities in collaboration with the Fayetteville Housing Authority. Cantu has done several live installations throughout Northwest Arkansas in Springdale, Bentonville, and at the Center Square and The Ramble Arts District in Fayetteville. Cantu’s artworks are collectible and accessible to a range of buyers. His art is in the collections of many local individuals and regional businesses, including Bank Street House in Bentonville.
I use repetition, movement, and form, to create unity with select media, organic shapes, and abstraction. My woven relief works are made with corn husk at its basis with other media to transform it into a new, different object. From a technical standpoint, the reliefs are created by hand-manipulating cornhusk to stretch its expressive capabilities combined with other non-traditional sculptural materials such as bamboo, twine, rope, and sometimes clay. These works (as are my paintings) represent my contemporary, cultural search for self, using materials that are mainstays of my ancestry.